Morning / Afternoon

Arrival in Gozo and transfer to Xagħra. Check in at the hotel and time to settle into the village at an unhurried pace.

First impressions of stone streets, open countryside and the scale of the Basilica begin to frame the setting for the week.

Evening

The group gathers for the first time in Pjazza Vittorja, the social heart of Xagħra. As dusk falls, the illuminated dome of the Basilica rises above the square and festa preparations are already visible in colour and light.

A welcome drink at Rubble Bar brings participants together in an informal setting. Introductions are made and the structure of the week is outlined. The atmosphere of the village begins to register in real time as sound and movement continue in the background.

The retreat begins with presence and observation, settling into the rhythm of the piazza and the shared experience ahead.

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel.

The morning session takes place at the Bored Peach Club. Pete introduces key elements of festa’s visual language, including colour systems, repetition, scale and the spatial drama of public devotion. The focus is on careful observation and contemporary reinterpretation. Participants begin testing ideas in response to what they are seeing around them, allowing the studio to become a space of translation rather than imitation.

Lunch

Lunch is shared at the Bored Peach Club, allowing the conversation to continue informally.

Afternoon

In the afternoon, the group visits one of the festa warehouses where preparation is underway. Inside, structures are assembled, fabric is measured and cut, ornament is layered and adjusted. Volunteers move between tasks with focus and familiarity.

Participants observe the process up close. Timber frames, gilded details and suspended figures exist in various stages of completion. The scale becomes apparent only from within the working space itself.

The visit offers a direct understanding of the collective labour and craftsmanship that shape the week’s transformation.

Evening

Dinner is at leisure.

As evening settles, participants may gather again in Victory Square. Rehearsals continue, lights remain partially assembled and anticipation builds gradually. The village atmosphere becomes part of the ongoing research for the work.

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel.

The studio session continues at the Bored Peach Club. Attention turns toward altar structures, band iconography and the shifting language between devotion and display. Participants deepen their work through drawing, composition and material exploration, considering how symbolism changes when moved from sacred space into public spectacle.

The morning allows ideas from the previous days to settle and expand.

Afternoon

The group travels to Victoria, also known as Rabat, the capital of Gozo. Within the Cittadella, layers of history are visible in limestone walls, cathedral interiors and elevated viewpoints that stretch across the island’s terrain.

Walking through narrow streets and open bastions offers a change of scale. Ornament gives way to stone mass and horizon. The landscape beyond the city becomes visible in full breadth.

The visit provides spatial contrast and historical depth, widening the visual field before returning to Xagħra in the late afternoon.

Evening

Dinner is at leisure.

An informal gathering in Victory Square remains open to those who wish to continue conversation or observe the village as preparations intensify.

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel.

The day begins with a visit to the Ġgantija Temples, among the oldest free-standing stone structures in the world. Massive limestone blocks form chambers and thresholds shaped by ritual thousands of years ago.

The visit offers a pause within the week. Attention shifts from ornament and movement to weight, structure and continuity. Questions of devotion, monumentality and human mark-making take on a longer horizon.

Lunch

Lunch is shared at the Bored Peach Club.

Afternoon

The afternoon returns to the studio for an open working session. Participants develop their individual responses to the week’s encounters, whether through drawing, mixed media or expanded formats influenced by rhythm, repetition and scale.

Pete remains present in the studio, offering individual guidance and facilitating group reflection as ideas consolidate and shift.

The focus is on allowing the work to mature rather than conclude.

Evening

Dinner is at leisure.

An optional evening walk through the village offers a chance to witness the continued build-up. Decorations are more fully assembled, rehearsals more confident, structures more complete. The atmosphere gathers density as the days narrow toward celebration.

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel.

The morning unfolds in the square as final preparations take shape. Volunteers raise structures, secure banners and adjust details. Band rehearsals grow more assured, and the spatial rhythm of the village shifts from preparation toward performance.

Participants observe this transformation from within the movement of the square itself. Scale, colour and coordination become fully visible as the built environment reaches its completed form.

Lunch

Lunch is at leisure.

Afternoon

The group returns to the Bored Peach Club for a closing session of reflection and informal sharing. Participants discuss the evolution of their work across the week and consider how observation, context and exchange have shaped their responses.

Pete facilitates a conversation around process, attention and the relationship between art and public life, drawing threads between the studio and the village.

The session offers consolidation rather than conclusion.

Evening

The opening night of Festa Marija Bambina begins. Fireworks mark the sky, music fills the square and the collective presence of the village gathers at full scale.

Participants experience the celebration from within the crowd, witnessing the transformation they have observed all week now realised in public form.

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel and check out.

Transfers to the ferry or onward travel.

Departure from Xagħra comes after a week shaped by studio practice, shared conversation and immersion in village life. The atmosphere of the past days lingers in memory, in sketches, in notes and in the evolving direction of the work.

The retreat closes quietly, with space for what has unfolded to continue beyond the island.